What Neytiri Didn't Tell Jake – Take 1
by Tisrusewa Karyu
Summary: Neytiri takes Jake to the Tree of Voices to explain the facts of life to him, only to have her man of action take the lead before she got around to the most important details. This is what happens when Jake discovers those missing details.


**What Neytiri Didn't Tell Jake – Take 1**

I gratefully acknowledge one of the foremost creative geniuses of our times, James Cameron, for conceiving the lush moon Pandora and the "noble savages," the Na'vi, that inhabit it. This story uses the characters and setting he created for his movie, Avatar. I have not received any money for my work based on Avatar. If I could get paid by the hour for these stories, I would retire and spend all my time dancing and writing in comfort.

This story is the first in an irregular series of one shots that explores one of the details James Cameron purposefully keeps from describing, the mating habits of the Na'vi. In the original movie, Neytiri takes Jake to the Tree of Voices to explain the facts of life to him, only to have her man of action take the lead before she got around to the most important details. This take is loosely based on the Tenctonese (Newcomer) approach originally seen in the Alien Nation franchise.

**It Takes Three to Tango**

As the evening meal is well underway and the singers are about to begin their warm-ups, Mo'at stands up from her usual place and walks to the center of the gathering level. The crowd of Omatikaya quiets down immediately for their Tsahìk. In a loud voice, she says, "I want to thank all of you for your hard work for turning New Hometree into a home. First, we cleaned out the ground level and used it for our temporary quarters. We cleaned up the surrounding forest to make a secure area around our New Hometree. We made new trails from the tree to the bathing beach and to the places of the fwampop. Next, we wove sleeping platforms and hung them above the gathering level, and now families have their own hammocks and don't have to sleep on the ground. Then we cleaned up the gathering level and patched the holes in its floor. It will be many days until the patches are completely grown in, but we are able to get the entire clan in here now. Lately, the ceremonial level below the ground level has been opened and cleaned up, and I'm happy to say, as of tomorrow, it is ready for use. We have a number of young adults that are ready for their dream hunts, and I will begin scheduling their ceremonies after I meet with them individually. A number of mated couples have asked me about babies. In four days, after the early morning meeting of the hunters, I will hold a meeting in here for all couples desiring a baby, so I can schedule sessions with them. It will be very nice to have new babies with us after the time of sorrow we have have endured." A cheer goes up from the crowd. Mo'at walks back to her place, but before she sits down, she says to Jake and Neytiri, "I don't know if you are ready yet, but I hope to see you there." Before Mo'at can sit down, a young couple runs up to her to discuss their situation.

Jake turns to Neytiri and asks, "What does your mother mean by that?"

Neytiri's face colors and her tahni brighten up with embarrassment. "I have much to explain to you. I'm sorry, but recent events have kept me from telling you what you need to know. This isn't the time or place. Let's go up to our favorite nook high in the tree after we are done here, and we'll start."

Jake makes a troubled face, but says, "OK, it's a date. I'll tell the warriors to secure the area for the night without me. We'll have the rest of the evening to talk."

Neytiri nods and answers, "Good, that will give us plenty of time."

* * *

High up in the tree, well above the branches used by the ikran makto to mount their flying partners, Jake and Neytiri snuggle into their favorite hollow space. They spend their precious free time together in this space, away from the many cares they have with their clan below. Neytiri pulls her queue around and hands it to Jake. "Make tsaheylu with me, and we'll get started."

Jake makes the bond, and once their coupled nervous system settles down, Jake thinks, "Now what was your mother talking about?"

"That night at the Tree of Voices, I had so much I needed to tell you. I wasn't expecting our feelings about each other to be so great. And I certainly wasn't expecting us to become mated at that time."

"Yeah, I know, one thing led to another, and here we are."

"I had a whole speech ready to give you, and I barely got started. I hope you don't become upset with me, now. Having my mother as the Tsahìk makes this so difficult."

"How's that?"

"I've told you that the Tsahìk is the one who interprets the will of Eywa."

"Yeah, that was my first night in Hometree, when I first met your parents."

"And Eywa only protects the balance of life."

"We were at the Tree of Souls, just before the battle. So, what does that have to do with your mother and babies?"

"The most important duty of a Tsahìk is to assist Eywa in making babies."

"Really? Where I come from, babies happen without the help of Eywa or tsahìks." Jake laughs out loud while thinking these words.

Jake feels Neytiri's anger through the bond blast over him like the hot shock wave from an explosion. She yells, both aloud and through the bond, "This is not funny! I am being very serious!"

Jake has never experienced an outburst like this through the bond before. Contritely, he says aloud, "I'm sorry. I don't understand."

Neytiri pauses, and then says quietly through the bond, "There are very rare exceptions, but almost always, a couple cannot have a baby without the help of their Tsahìk."

"So, what exactly does the Tsahìk do?"

"The Tsahìk has two tasks for this duty. The first is to help Eywa determine whether the couple is worthy and ready to receive a child. Eywa will not give new life to a couple unless they are prepared for its arrival. The second is to assist the couple in making the child."

"OK, that sounds easy enough, but doesn't tell me much. Give me the details."

"We must give each other our feelings about having a child, and decide whether we are ready. Both of us must be wholeheartedly desirous for the child. If either of us are hesitant, the Tsahìk will know, and so will Eywa."

"So, how does that work?"

"We go down into the ceremonial level into a special alcove with my mother. We make tsaheylu first, bonded like we are now. And then my mother bonds with us."

"You mean the three of us are bonded at the same time?"

"Yes, that is something she will teach me, after we do this with her."

"Does that mean she will know everything about us, like the way the two of us know everything about each other now?"

"Oh, no. Our mating has made us one. She cannot get that close. Tsahìks learn to do this bonding in such a way that the mated couple cannot feel her or enter her mind. She cannot enter our minds as deep as we can with each other. She can listen in on our thoughts and feelings. She will ask us to think about having a child, and she concentrates on what we are thinking and feeling. She picks up our response, and asks more questions until she is satisfied, one way or the other. Almost always, the couple is ready for the next step. If they are not ready, the Tsahìk will ask them to continue discussing their feelings about children and will schedule another session with them when they feel ready. My mother has never had a couple that needed more than two sessions to become ready, although she has had to spend some time counseling a few couples before the second session."

"Well, I wasn't raised in a clan, so I don't know what most Na'vi know when they become adults. Maybe we'll need a lot of counseling sessions."

"Jake, I've seen you working with the children in the clan. You will do well raising our children. I think we will need just one session, even with our late start with discussing children."

"So, after your mother gives her approval, what's next?"

"It is not the Tsahìk's approval, it is Eywa's approval for maintaining the balance of life, as interpreted by the Tsahìk."

"Right. Back on 'Rrta, there are some mothers that are real baby-making machines. In the poorest areas, having big families is one way to survive, even if it means losing a few children along the way. Some children survive to adulthood, and can take care of their parents when they become elderly. There are probably some mothers here who want more than their fair share of babies, upsetting the balance."

"Since the clan lives together so closely, everyone knows the situation in the clan. Having too many children can make life difficult for the clan. It is very rare for one mother to desire more babies than what the clan can manage. You have seen how everyone has waited since the destruction of Hometree, until the clan became ready to support babies again."

"Yeah, I'm always impressed how everyone here puts the needs of the clan before their own personal needs. After a couple gets Eywa's approval, what's next?"

"After a four day wait, the couple mates and the Tsahìk helps the baby get started."

"I don't understand."

"We make tsaheylu, and my Tsahìk mother bonds with us as before. Then we mate..."

This time, Jake is shocked. He practically yells, "Your mother watches us make out!"

"Why, yes, that's how it is done."

"The last thing I want is my mother-in-law watching me make love to you!"

"On 'Rrta, didn't you see your parents mate?"

"No, never. That just wasn't done. I never saw either of them naked, let alone doing it."

"Doing what?"

"Ah, mating. There are many ways of saying that in English."

"How odd. Just like the many ways of saying yes and no?"

"That's right."

"The clan has only one bathing beach, and everyone sees everyone else washing there, so everyone one has seen everyone else naked."

"Yeah, that was a shock for me at first, but I got used to it."

"And since the clan has a shared sleeping place, everyone sees couples mating."

"I noticed that, and got used to it, too."

"Each family has a sleeping platform, so children know when their parents are mating. There are some adolescent boys that count the number of couples seen mating during festivals and celebrations as a sign of how successful those parties have been."

"Boys will be boys, even with Na'vi boys. Besides her queue being only so long, why does she have to watch?"

"First, the couple must be in the right position. Mating is a skill like any other physical skill, like shooting an arrow. It takes practice to do well. Every couple has their favorite mating positions, based mainly on the unique sizes and shapes of their bodies. The couple must move into the baby position to make the Tsahìk's job easier. The Tsahìk sees to that."

"Really?"

"My mother told me, early on, she had to explain it using words, but some couples were too occupied to understand. Later, she learned how to use the bond to move the couples into position, and usually the couples were not aware of her involvement."

"Just like telling a pa'li or ikran where to go through the bond, I see that."

"Second, after the couple has completed mating, the most difficult part begins for the Tsahìk. Using the bond with the woman, the Tsahìk guides the man's contribution to the woman's, and the baby is started."

"How can you learn that?"

"My mother takes me out into the forest, and finds a tree with an insect nest underneath. She bonds with the tree, and uses it to send the insects out of their nest, and then back inside. She says that is very similar."

"And you can do that?"

"Yes. I'm not as good as her yet, but I will be, someday."

"And that gets the baby started?"

"Yes. The mother can feel the baby after a few days, and then it is just a matter of time until the baby is ready to be born."

"What if we mate in this baby position now? Would your mother still be needed?"

"I'm not good enough to both mate and then start the baby. The physical act interferes with the concentration required."

"So, what do we do if we want another baby after you become Tsahìk?"

"My mother can still help us."

"What if your mother isn't available?"

"We invite a Tsahìk, either current or retired, to travel here, or we travel to another clan and let their Tsahìk help us."

"It always takes three?"

"Yes, it does, to make a baby."

"Wait a minute. When you become Tsahìk, that means you have to watch all the other couples in the clan mate?"

"Yes, I will, when a baby is wanted by the couple. That is part of the job of being Tsahìk."

"I never knew. I'm glad you didn't tell me this that night, at the Tree of Voices. It might have scared me away."

"Me, scare Toruk Makto?"

"If only you knew, Palulukan Makto."

"I do know. You love me too much to be scared."

"You're right. Let's practice this baby position now, before seeing your mother."


End file.
